


Herusan Customs

by windandthestars



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Community: kink_bingo, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-19
Updated: 2012-07-19
Packaged: 2017-11-10 07:47:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/463898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windandthestars/pseuds/windandthestars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Herusans had a weird thing about underwear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Herusan Customs

**Author's Note:**

> Set post season 4 (spoilers).

It's funny the things that remind her of Garris. She's back at the new Sanctuary for good this time and she's thankful for that, even if thinking of him still makes her heart hurt. The breakup had been complicated; irreparable cultural differences had been the driving force not bitterness. She had known she would miss him, but she hadn't expected to be reminded of him quite this much. Their lives had been so different, so foreign from anything she had known and perhaps that was the problem; all the little things, the similarities, ended up magnified ten times over.

Somehow though, it wasn't the meals of contraband fast food she shared with Hank or the exquisitely long, hot showers she took that were the worst. It was the mundane stuff like laundry that got to her. Her first week back she had broke down crying when she had opened the door to her room and seen her clothes folded on top of her dresser. 

Will must have done it because Biggie was still recovering despite having moved from the infirmary to his room. It wasn't the thought of the Big Guy, that had gotten to her, although she knew that hadn't helped, but it was her underwear, folded and set on top of the pile that had done it. It was a ridiculous thing to cry over, underwear, but it was such a strange sight, bits of lace and bright colors, that she had wept.

The Herusans had a weird thing about underwear. It had taken her a while to figure it out. She knew the children, boys and girls, wore underwear. She had washed enough underwear in her first few weeks below the surface to know that. She had hung them up to dry and wished for pairs of sock to hang beside them.

It wasn't until later, until one of the other women asked her if her relationship with Garris was strained that the pieces had fallen into place. Kate had been so confused she'd asked for clarification without a second thought. She'd been even more surprised by the woman's response: _she wore underwear._

It seemed like such a ubiquitous thing, Kate hadn't known what to say. She had known they dressed differently, had different taboos about hygiene, different relationships with their bodies. Kate's stash of tampons was a well-guarded secret. Not a soul knew it existed and no one ever would. She hadn't expected this though.

"They're a sign of unavailability." The woman had stammered a bit, somewhat uncomfortable and as unsettled as Kate.

"Oh." Kate had mumbled, letting the implications sink in. "The guys, men, wear underwear though."

"They are men."

While that didn't quite make sense to Kate she wasn't about to argue. She was too caught up in her thoughts, staring down at the pile of tubers in her lap. That certainly explained why Garris continually backed off, suddenly and forcefully, despite her protests every time she let his hand wander up her skirt. He had thought she was uninterested, unavailable, perhaps he though she was already claimed, or perhaps tarnished in some way. The implication at the time hadn't been clear but by the time things had ended she had been grateful.

She had loved him, but she knew better than to complicate things, to find her solace in him. Things had been different after the explosion in Argentina, after Magnus had called her in to help with Caleb. She hadn’t acted as she should have. Garris, as the leader of his people needed a wife by his side, someone with unwavering commitment to the tribe. She couldn’t be that person, couldn’t be the person he needed her to be, so she had left. Finally stealing away in the middle of the night as she always had, running.

She’d come back to the Sanctuary, to this life, but some of the old had stuck with her: the lose clothes, the easy smiles, the confusion over how such a small scrap of fabric could mean so much.

**Author's Note:**

> for kink_bingo: chastity devices


End file.
